Effects of late growing-season and late dormant-season prescribed fire on herbaceous vegetation in restored pine-grassland communities

Abstract. We compared the effects of late dormant-season and late growing-season prescribed fires on herbaceous species in restored shortleaf pine- (Pinus echinata) grassland communities in the Ouachita Highlands of western Arkansas. Herbaceous species richness, diversity, and total forb and legume abundance increased following fire. Late growing-season burns reduced distribution and abundance of panicums (primarily Panicum boscii, P. dichotomum, and P. linearifolium) while late dormant-season burns increased Panicum distribution and abundance. Density of legumes (such as Stylosanthes biflora) increased following frequent or annual dormant-season fires. However, season of fire influenced the distribution and abundance of fewer than 10 % of the species. Fire plays an essential role in pine-grassland communities by creating and maintaining open canopy conditions that perpetuate understory herbaceous plant communities.     

Effects of flooding and artificial burning disturbances on plant species composition in a downstream riverside floodplain

Our objective was to detect environmental and disturbance factors that determine plant species composition in a downstream riverside floodplain of the Shinano River, where both natural flooding and artificial fire disturbances predominate. We classified the natural vegetation into five types by physiognomy, i.e., burnt field, intact (unburnt) field, early-successional forest, later-successional forest, and margin of channel. We deployed 14 transect belts containing 713 plots of 1 m × 1 m at these sites. In the plots, we determined plant occurrences and values of five environmental (soil moisture, soil texture, relative elevation above the river, horizontal distance from the river, and light conditions) and two disturbance factors (scouring of plants by flooding and fire). Plant species compositions and environmental and disturbance factors were different among the sites. Logistic regression analysis showed that burning stimulated the occurrences of herbaceous annuals and conversely constrained those of woody and fern species, suggesting that fire disturbance resets the succession. Scouring of plants by flooding also affected the occurrences of many species, and had a positive influence on that of herbaceous winter annuals in particular. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that the distributional characteristics of the plant species in the riverside floodplain were influenced primarily by distance from the river, reflecting the magnitude of flood disturbance. We conclude that (1) magnitude of flood disturbance is the primary factor determining plant species composition, and (2) burning maintains early successional vegetation and simultaneously creates a unique plant species composition by stimulating the germination of buried viable seeds transported by flood.     

Biomass and primary-production of herbaceous plant communities in the Amazon floodplain

The increase in biomass of different aquatic and terrestrial herbaceous plant communities was measured during various growth periods in the Amazon floodplain near Manaus. Maximum biomass varied from 4–11.2 t ha^–1 dry weight in mixed annual terrestrial communities to 6–23 t ha^–1 in aquatic annual species (Paspalum repens, Oryza perennis, Luziola spruceana and Hymenachne amplexicaulis) and 15.6–57.6 t ha^–1 in communities of the perennial species Paspalum fasciculatum. Cumulative biomass of 3 successively growing annual species reached 30 t ha^–1 a^–1. Net primary production is considerably higher than maximum biomass. Paspalum fasciculatum reached 70 t during a growth period of 8 months. If one considers for annual species a monthly loss of 10–25% of the biomass, then net primary production in areas with three successive macrophyte communities and a cumulative maximum biomass of 30 t ha^–1 is estimated to reach up to 50 t ha^–1 a^–1. Annual P/B ratio may reach about 3.     

Landscape hydrogeomorphic conditions determine structure and species composition of an ephemeral floodplain wetland

Wetlands are major sources of habitat heterogeneity, with certain environmental variables controlling wetland structure and composition. There is very little information on the heterogeneity of ephemeral floodplain wetland patch mosaics and how hydrogeomorphic circumstance affects composition and structure. Structure (wetland size) and composition (herbaceous species) are two attributes of an ephemeral wetland that are easily quantifiable using a moving window analysis. The moving window analysis is a statistical technique that identifies significant changes in parameters (i.e., structure and composition) along gradients. An analysis of changes in wetland structure and composition longitudinally identified two hydrogeomorphic types and laterally delineated wetland boundaries. The wide–flat type had a wide (131.2 ± 50.4 m) wetland patch and a mean lateral slope of 0.008 ± 0.003, in contrast the narrow–deep type had a significantly smaller (80 ± 40.2 m) and steeper (0.048 ± 0.06) wetland patch. Changes in hydrogeomorphology had distinct effects on the species composition of the wetland. Facultative wetland species such as Sporobolus pyrimidalis and Ischaemum afrum were associated with the wide–flat type, while, the narrow–deep type was characterized by more obligate, flood dependent species such as Phragmites australis, Mariscus congestus, and Eriochloa meyeriana. Internally, the structure and composition of ephemeral wetlands on the northern plains of Kruger National Park were spatially heterogeneous and correlated to hydrogeomorphic conditions, that are identifiable when examined at the wetland scale. Results add knowledge to wetlands as sources of landscape heterogeneity and highlight how environmental variation can result in increases in wetland heterogeneity.     

Landscape hydrogeomorphic conditions determine structure and species composition of an ephemeral floodplain wetland

Wetlands are major sources of habitat heterogeneity, with certain environmental variables controlling wetland structure and composition. There is very little information on the heterogeneity of ephemeral floodplain wetland patch mosaics and how hydrogeomorphic circumstance affects composition and structure. Structure (wetland size) and composition (herbaceous species) are two attributes of an ephemeral wetland that are easily quantifiable using a moving window analysis. The moving window analysis is a statistical technique that identifies significant changes in parameters (i.e., structure and composition) along gradients. An analysis of changes in wetland structure and composition longitudinally identified two hydrogeomorphic types and laterally delineated wetland boundaries. The wide–flat type had a wide (131.2 ± 50.4 m) wetland patch and a mean lateral slope of 0.008 ± 0.003, in contrast the narrow–deep type had a significantly smaller (80 ± 40.2 m) and steeper (0.048 ± 0.06) wetland patch. Changes in hydrogeomorphology had distinct effects on the species composition of the wetland. Facultative wetland species such as Sporobolus pyrimidalis and Ischaemum afrum were associated with the wide–flat type, while, the narrow–deep type was characterized by more obligate, flood dependent species such as Phragmites australis, Mariscus congestus, and Eriochloa meyeriana. Internally, the structure and composition of ephemeral wetlands on the northern plains of Kruger National Park were spatially heterogeneous and correlated to hydrogeomorphic conditions, that are identifiable when examined at the wetland scale. Results add knowledge to wetlands as sources of landscape heterogeneity and highlight how environmental variation can result in increases in wetland heterogeneity.     

Persistence of resprouting species after fire in natural and post‐mine restored shrublands in southwestern Australia

Questions: Is post‐fire persistence of resprouting species lower in restored sites, and is survival related to lignotuber size? Location: Southwestern Australia, Eneabba, 300 km north of Perth. Methods: Post‐fire persistence of 10 lignotuberous shrub species was compared between three sites restored 8–24 years ago after mineral‐sand mining and three surrounding natural shrubland sites (8–24 years since previous fire). Results: Overall persistence of species was 11–93% in restored sites (mean 52%) and 79–100% in natural sites (mean 96%). Persistence increased with time since rehabilitation for five species with <25% of individuals in three species surviving in the youngest stand. For equivalent crown size, average lignotuber circumferences were 50% smaller at restored sites and this probably accounted for their higher post‐fire mortality. Apart from differences in the age of plants, restored sites had lower soil penetrability than natural sites, which may have restricted rootstock development. A tradeoff favoring a higher crown volume to lignotuber size ratio was apparent in nine of the ten species with greater crown volumes (by 37%) and smaller lignotubers (by 36%) in restored sites. Two resprouting species for which crown seed store was quantified had much higher fecundity in restored sites. Conclusions: Fires reduced resprouter persistence in restored sites owing to poor development/insufficient size of lignotubers. Further management after fires is required, including application of resprouter seeds/seedlings on restored topsoil, transplanting adult resprouters (where viable) from natural areas ahead of the mining front. Low intensity/patchy fires are recommended on long unburnt sites. Resprouter survival would have likely been much greater in the first place if a deeper sandy soil profile was rehabilitated, thereby providing a more suitable medium for lignotuber development.     

Trait convergence and trait divergence in herbaceous plant communities: Mechanisms and consequences

In landscapes subject to intensive agriculture, both soil fertility and vegetation disturbance are capable of impacting strongly, evenly and simultaneously on the herbaceous plant cover and each tends to impose uniformity on the traits of constituent species. In more natural and ancient grasslands greater spatial and temporal variation in both productivity and disturbance occurs and both factors have been implicated in the maintenance of species‐richness in herbaceous communities. However, empirical data suggest that disturbance is the more potent driver of trait differentiation and species co‐existence at a local scale. This may arise from the great diversity in opportunities for establishment, growth or reproduction that arise when the intensity of competition is reduced by damage to the vegetation. In contrast to the diversifying effects of local disturbances, productivity‐related plant traits (growth rate, leaf longevity, leaf chemistry, leaf toughness, decomposition rate) appear to be less variable on a local scale. This difference in the effects of the productivity and disturbance filters arises from the relative constancy of productivity within the community and the diversity in agency and in spatial and temporal scales exhibited by disturbance events. Also, evolutionary responses to disturbances involve minor adaptive shifts in phenological and regenerative traits and are more likely to occur as micro‐evolutionary steps than the shifts in linked traits in the core physiology associated with the capacity to exploit productive and unproductive habitats. During the assembly of a community and over its subsequent lifespan filters with diversifying and convergent effects may operate simultaneously on recruitment from the local species pool and impose contrasted effects on the similarity of the trait values exhibited by co‐existing species. Moreover, as a consequence of the frequent association of productivity with the convergence filter, an additional difference is predicted in terms of the effects of the two filters on ecosystem functioning. Convergence in traits selected by the productivity filter will exert effects on both the plant community and the ecosystem while divergent effects of the disturbance filter will be restricted to the plant community.     

Pulse regime and vegetation communities in fluvial systems: The case of the Parana River floodplain,Argentina

Aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of flood pulse regime attributes (pulse frequency, pulse average intensity and amplitude, and flooded days) on the floristic differentiation of the Argentinian Middle Parana river floodplain vegetation in a 39-year period. Besides on floristic composition richness, diversity, evenness, percentage of woody species and topographic position were assessed for 7 communities. Pulse regime attributes were evaluated for each community taking into account different topographic positions and hydrological levels of the Parana River. Our result showed that fluvial vegetation is not floristically differentiated according to its topographic position and there is a weak relation between pulse regime attributes and diversity of woody and herbaceous species. Because of the same topographic position has been colonized by different vegetation communities, floristically different communities share similar pulse frequency, pulse average intensity and amplitude, and flooded days. Pulse regime effects on fluvial vegetation are dependent on more than the topographic position; other aspects of the dynamics of fluvial systems such as the geomorphologic architecture, sediment load and channel dynamics should be included in order to explain the floristic differentiation of the Parana River floodplain vegetation.     

Flood disturbance and riparian species diversity on the Colorado River Delta

We investigated the influence of channel migration and expansion on riparian plant species diversity along the lower Colorado River near the United States–Mexico border. Using repeat aerial photography in a GIS we identified and classed areas of low, moderate, and high disturbance frequency caused by channel expansion and migration. Replicate vegetation plots (12m×12m) were sampled in each of the three disturbance classes. One-way ANOVA was used to test for differences in species richness, species diversity (using the Shannon–Weiner Index) and overall percent ground cover of plants between the three disturbance classes. Regardless of disturbance class, plots were dominated by trees or shrubs, especially the non-native Tamarix ramosissima, as well as Pluchea sericea, Baccharis salicifolia and Salix goodingii. Clearly woody species constitute the great bulk of overall species richness, percent ground cover, and species diversity (H) in each disturbance group. No overall statistically significant differences were revealed among the disturbance groups for values of species richness, percent ground cover, or the Shannon–Wiener Index, though paired contrasts of means revealed that total percent ground cover on low disturbance plots was significantly higher than on moderately disturbed plots. Spatial and temporal variability in riparian diversity in the study area appears to hinge on factors other than disturbance frequency such as salt or drought stress. Alternately, our results could be interpreted as suggesting that in the presence of intensive flow regulation, disturbance plays a secondary role to ecological stresses, similar to that demonstrated by others. Intentional flood pulses are advocated as a restorative management strategy for improving plant productivity, management of exotic species (particularly T. ramosissima), and restoration of overall biodiversity.     

Influence of overstory composition on understory colonization by native species in plantations on a degraded tropical site

Abstract. Patterns of understory colonization by native and naturalized trees and shrubs were evaluated in 4.5-year-old plantations of three exotic tree species, Casuarina equisetifolia, Eucalyptus robusta, and Leucaena leucocephala, on a degraded coastal grassland site with reference to overstory composition and understory environmental conditions. 19 secondary forest species were established in the plantation understories (with a total area of 0.52 ha), while no natural regeneration occurred in unplanted, though protected, control areas. The majority of these species (90 %) and the total seedling population (97 %) were zoochorous, indicating the importance of frugivorous bats and particularly birds as facilitators of secondary forest species colonization. Understory species richness and seedling densities were affected significantly by overstory composition, the most abundant regeneration occurring beneath Leucaena and least under Casuarina. Understory colonization rates within mixed-species stands were intermediate between those of single-species stands of the trees comprising their overstories. Significant negative correlations were found between understory species richness and seedling density, and forest floor depth and dry mass, especially for small-seeded ornithochorous species. Higher colonization rates near the peripheries of plantation plots relative to plot interiors were due in part to roosting site preferences by frugivores, particularly bats. The study results indicate that overstory species selection can exert a significant influence on subsequent patterns of colonization by secondary forest species and is an important consideration in the design of plantations for ‘catalyzing’ succession on deforested, degraded sites.     

Effects of water regime and habitat continuity on the plant species composition of floodplain forests

Questions: 1. How big is the difference in the herbaceous layer composition between flooded and unflooded stands? 2. Are there species or species groups which have an affinity to ancient vs. recent forests in stands with different water regimes? 3. Are patterns of life history traits different between flooded and unflooded stands as well as between ancient and recent forests in stands with a different water regime? Location: Floodplain forests in the Middle Elbe region and district of Leipzig, Central Germany. Location: The herbaceous layer was studied in randomly selected quadrats of 9 m² in 2000 and 2001. Six ancient (n_plot=59) and six adjacent recent forests (n_plot=108) were investigated in flooded stands as well as three ancient (n_plot=41) and three recent forests (n_plot=70) in stands that have not been flooded for 50 years. The association of single species, species groups and life history traits were statistically tested for flooded vs. unflooded stands and for ancient vs. recent forests. Results: Interruption of flooding caused a complete species turnover in the herbaceous layer composition. Whereas in the still flooded stands typical alluvial species prevail, species composition in stands without flooding for 50 years showed a closed relation to the Stellario‐Carpinetum. Six herbaceous species in the flooded and five in the unflooded stands showed a preference for ancient forests. Only one species in the flooded and six herbaceous species in the unflooded stands are significantly associated with recent forests. Life history traits differ between flooded and unflooded stands but are similar in ancient and recently flooded stands, while unflooded ancient forests have more geophytes and myrmecochorous species than recent forests. Conclusions: The specificity of species composition in floodplain forests can only be maintained by regular flooding. Interruption of inundations lead to differences in the patterns of species composition and life history traits between ancient and recent forests.     

Effects of light competition and litter on the performance of Viola palustris and on species composition and diversity of an abandoned fen meadow

Theeffects of light competition and litter on seedling recruitment and theperformance of established individuals were examined in Violapalustris. This polycarpic perennial plant was a common component ofspecies-rich fen meadows in northwestern Germany until the middle of thiscentury, but today is considered to be regionally endangered. From summer 1996until summer 1998 a bi-factorial field experiment combining three standing croptreatments (mowing, thinning, control) with two litter layer treatments (litterremoval, no litter removal) was carried out in an abandoned fen meadow toinvestigate the effects of these factors both on V.palustris and on aboveground species composition and diversity.MANOVAs (multivariate analysis of variance) revealed significant treatmenteffects for the performance of V. palustris related toexperimental manipulation. Mowing increased vital attributes including thenumber of rosette leaves, the percentage of individuals with chasmogamous andcleistogamous flowers and the number of rhizomes. In contrast, the length of theleafstalk, mean leaf area and the length of rhizomes were negatively associatedwith mowing. Litter removal significantly increased the number of V.palustris seedlings. The removal of the litter layer already resultedin an increase in aboveground species richness in the first year of theexperiment. After three years of experimental manipulation, both abovegroundspecies richness and diversity were positively associated with mowing.Redundancy Analysis showed that typical wet meadow species (Cardaminepratensis, Lychnis flos-cuculi, Lotuspedunculatus) and species of mesotrophic fens (Violapalustris, Agrostis canina, Potentillapalustris) were positively influenced by mowing. It can be concludedthat V. palustris recruitment and growth is promoted by aregular disturbance regime on fen meadows. The conservation of many typicalspecies of wet meadows and fens in northwestern Germany depends on moderategrazing or cutting. These management types prevent successional changes whichlead to an increase in standing crop and the development of a litter layer, bothof which can cause local extinction.     

Effects of regular and irregular temporal patterns of disturbance on biomass accrual and species composition of a subtidal hard-bottom assemblage

Assessing patterns of species distribution and abundance is important to understand the driving processes of, and predict future changes in, biodiversity. To this date, ecological studies have been mainly designed to investigate the effects of the mean magnitude of predictor variables, although ecological factors naturally vary in space and time. In a nine month long field experiment, we tested the effects of different temporal patterns (regular, lowly and highly irregular) in biomass removal (=disturbance event) on the diversity, species composition, and biomass accrual of macrobenthic assemblages grown on 15 × 15 cm² PVC-panels. For each pattern of disturbance, disturbance events were timed at three sequences to control for possible confounding effects with recruitment patterns. Disturbance intensity was kept identical among treatments. Assemblages developed in the absence of disturbance for 3 months prior to a 150-day manipulation period, during which the biomass from 20% of the panel area was removed at each of ten disturbance events. Additional undisturbed settlement panels were deployed in the field to assess monthly recruitment rates and species succession over a one year period. Disturbance (i) reduced biomass and total species cover, (ii) changed species composition during the first half of the manipulation period significantly, and (iii) was without effect on species richness and evenness. Irregular disturbance regimes enhanced the abundance of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis, biomass accrual, and total species cover of assemblages relative to the regular disturbance regime, but had either no or only transient effects on diversity and species composition, respectively. Neither the degree of irregularity in disturbance nor the sequence of disturbance events affected any of the response variables significantly. Recruitment of species was strongly seasonal with almost only diatoms recruiting during winter, while recruitment was most intense during summer. Our results suggest that the temporal patterns of predictor variables might be of low explanatory power for the variance of responses in communities with seasonal recruitment patterns that are exposed to a high level of disturbance. Thus the need to include temporal patterns of predictor variables in experimental designs may depend on community dynamics and the characteristics of the process under investigation. S. Wollgast and M. Molis contributed equally to this work.     

Structure and composition of riparian forests with special reference to geomorphic site conditions along the Tokachi River,northern Japan

The structure and composition of riparian forests were examined along the Tokachi River, northern Japan. Both the hydrogeomorphic gradient and the temporal gradient were analyzed in attempt to explain the present pattern of riparian forests. The stability of floodplain surfaces was estimated on the basis of the elevation above the riverbed and the distance from the river channel. The characteristics of the substratum on which trees were established were also examined by excavation of buried sediment. The results indicated that soil moisture and organic content increased while the size of particles in the substratum decreased with increased elevation and distance from the river channel. Gradient analysis was employed to examine the distribution of dominant species, such as Alnus hirsuta, Toisusu urbaniana, Populus maximowiczii, Picea jezoensis and Abies sachalinensis. The relative dominance of each could be arrayed across the elevation gradient. Although the three broad-leaved pioneers dominated bars and floodplains near the river channel, their modes shifted from lower to higher elevation and amplitudes of distribution curves decreased in the following order: A. hirsuta, T. urbaniana, P. maximowiczii and conifers, which were located on the highest floodplains. Sites could be divided into three classes in terms of stability. There were fewer species at active sites, which favored the three pioneer species, but species richness and diversity increased with stand age. Semi-active and stable sites were more diverse with the establishment of conifers and other broad-leaved trees, which included upland species. However, species richness peaked and then decreased after trees reached 50 to 60 years of age. The growth of dwarf bamboo and the development of conifer-dominant stands impeded the establishment of other species, thereby reducing species richness and diversity in mature stands. Chronologically, floodplains could be differentiated into high- and low-frequency zones of flood disturbance, with pioneer species occupying the former, and late successional species found largely in the latter.     

The influence of flood regime on fish catch and fish communities of the Cross River floodplain ecosystem,Nigeria

Synopsis The morphology, climate and flood regime of the Cross River floodplain are summarized and related to the catch, species distribution and abundance of the economically important fishes of the floodplain ecosystem. Two flood indices, FI-1 and FI-2, are used to assess, statistically. the relationship between fish catch and flood regime. There are good positive correlations between the catch (C_T) of year T and the flood index 1 of 1 year T-1 and between (C_T) and the sum of the flood indices 1 and 2 of year T-1 (r = 0.6516 and 0.6894, respectively, both at P = 0.05). Cross River is a relatively highly productive system (in terms of fish catch) and this productivity is attributable mainly to the yearly flooding of the plain when fish find allochthonous food materials in the expanded habitat. Changes in hydrometeorological conditions, such as the drought that affected the northern part of the Cross River basin in 1983–1984. if they persist can effectively reduce fish catch from the system.     

河势特征分界下的黄河滩区周边城镇生境质量与景观格局演变

在黄河流域生态保护和高质量发展战略背景下,加强对黄河滩区生境质量及其驱动机制研究对区域生物多样性保护和生态韧性提升具有重要意义。以黄河滩区沿河城镇为研究区,依据河势特征将其划分为4个河段和14个子研究区,并基于InVEST模型与3类景观格局指数分析论证不同河势特征分界下生境质量与景观格局的时空演变规律。结果表明：（1）生境质量方面,2000-2020年研究区生境质量整体呈下降趋势,各河段生境质量平均值由大到小依次为河口段、弯曲段、游荡段、过渡段;（2）景观格局方面,各河段之间景观破碎度指数波动最小,并随城镇化发展破碎化程度逐渐减弱,连接度与复杂度波动明显,且因河势特征存在差异性变化;（3）生境质量与景观格局相关性方面,多数土地景观格局指数与生境质量显著相关,但关联程度有所下降。相同地类景观格局指数在不同河段内表现出不同甚至反向的互动关系。研究表明,河势特征是黄河滩区生境质量的全局性支撑或限制因素,其作用主要体现为对黄河滩区周边城镇土地空间发展的差异化影响,该影响直接作用于紧邻黄河地带的城镇组团,并间接影响其他区域,在一定程度上左右了城镇发展主向以及土地转化、空间格局的演变规律,最终影响区域生境质量的分布格局。研究结果对黄河滩区重要生态功能区的生境保护与生态系统功能调控具有一定的理论与实践价值。     

Optimizing read mapping to reference genomes to determine composition and species prevalence in microbial communities

The Human Microbiome Project (HMP) aims to characterize the microbial communities of 18 body sites from healthy individuals. To accomplish this, the HMP generated two types of shotgun data: reference shotgun sequences isolated from different anatomical sites on the human body and shotgun metagenomic sequences from the microbial communities of each site. The alignment strategy for characterizing these metagenomic communities using available reference sequence is important to the success of HMP data analysis. Six next-generation aligners were used to align a community of known composition against a database comprising reference organisms known to be present in that community. All aligners report nearly complete genome coverage (>97%) for strains with over 6X depth of coverage, however they differ in speed, memory requirement and ease of use issues such as database size limitations and supported mapping strategies. The selected aligner was tested across a range of parameters to maximize sensitivity while maintaining a low false positive rate. We found that constraining alignment length had more impact on sensitivity than does constraining similarity in all cases tested. However, when reference species were replaced with phylogenetic neighbors, similarity begins to play a larger role in detection. We also show that choosing the top hit randomly when multiple, equally strong mappings are available increases overall sensitivity at the expense of taxonomic resolution. The results of this study identified a strategy that was used to map over 3 tera-bases of microbial sequence against a database of more than 5,000 reference genomes in just over a month.     

The role of landscape configuration in plant composition of floodplain forests across different physiographic areas

Questions: What is the relative importance of landscape variables compared to habitat quality variables in determining species composition in floodplain forests across different physiographic areas? How do species composition and species traits relate to effects of particular landscape variables? Do lowland and mountain areas differ in effects of landscape variables on species composition? Location: Southern Czech Republic. Methods: A total of 240 vegetation relevés of floodplain forests with measured site conditions were recorded across six physiographic areas. I tested how physiographic area, habitat quality variables and landscape variables such as current land‐cover categories, forest continuity, forest size and urbanization influenced plant species composition. I also compared how mountain and lowland areas differ in terms of the relative importance of these variables. To determine how landscape configuration affects the distribution of species traits, relationships of traits and species affinity with landscape variables were tested. Results: Among landscape variables, forest continuity, landscape forest cover and distance to nearest settlement altered the vegetation. These variables also influenced the distributions of species traits, i.e. life forms, life strategies, affinity to forest, dispersal modes, seed characteristics, flooding tolerance and Ellenberg indicator values for nitrogen, light, moisture and soil reaction. Nevertheless, physiographic area and habitat quality variables explained more variation in species composition. Landscape variables were more important in lowland areas. Forest continuity affected species composition only in lowlands. Conclusions: Although habitat quality and physiographic area explained more vegetation variability, landscape configuration was also a key factor influencing species composition and distribution of species traits. However, the results are dependent on forest geographical location, with lowland forests being more influenced by landscape variables compared to mountain forests.